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From: ftw@datacube.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: Distorting fseek semantics
Message-ID: <102600016@datacube>
Date: Mon, 21-Sep-87 13:59:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: datacube.102600016
Posted: Mon Sep 21 13:59:00 1987
Date-Received: Thu, 24-Sep-87 02:34:30 EDT
References: <27734@sun.uucp>
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Nf-ID: #R:sun.uucp:-2773400:datacube:102600016:000:1765
Nf-From: datacube.UUCP!ftw    Sep 21 13:59:00 1987


> gwyn@brl-smoke.UUCP writes:
> In article <722@sugar.UUCP> peter@sugar.UUCP (Peter da Silva) writes:
> >Whitesmiths believed the UNIX programmers manual was copyright by AT&T and
> >thus they couldn't copy the functions described in it.
> 
> I don't believe this was an issue; after all, Whitesmiths did provide
> many UNIX-compatible functions (even their own UNIXy system, Idris).

Whitesmiths has had at least some compatibility with the Unix "stdio"
functions since their 2.2 release in the spring of '83.  Admittedly,
some of it was clunky.

> From discussions with Whitesmiths personnel, I gather that they
> thought that their I/O routines were better-designed (more orthogonal,
> etc.), so in the absence of standards (remember, their C system was
> the first one available outside UNIX) they decided to provide more
> useful routines.

This is true, and a lot of those routines live on in the current compiler
package offerings from Whitesmiths.

> The development of UNIX-like stdio as a de facto
> standard occurred later, at which time one could get an implementation
> of stdio for Whitesmiths C from Plum-Hall.  I believe Whitesmiths are
> committed to providing ANSI-compatible facilities in future releases,
> which means including the stdio functions.  (I don't know whether or
> not they currently include these.)

Whitesmiths closely follows dpANS, and includes very nearly all of the
features/limitations therein in the current version of their compilers.
They are also active in P1003.


				Farrell T. Woods 

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